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New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

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Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#132
Ok, for the keyboard enthusiasts here: does anyone know if there’s such thing as a “magic keyboard” - flat keyboard and flat keys - but as a split keyboard?

I’ve been testing split keyboards lately and I think they’ll provide some relief to some neck and shoulder pain I get from hunching when I type, but I don’t really like how gigantic the keyboards all are, and to be honest I prefer the “chiclet” keys over the big mechanical keys (heresy, I know).

Any suggestions?

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#133

The IBM Model M hype is absurdly overblown. Anyone who has used decent mechanical keyboards should be able to pretty much immediately notice just how cost-reduced that keyboard is. It is quite literally the cheapest buckling spring keyboard IBM managed to make in '89, and it shows. Cherry boards are often bashed for their flexing and wobbly cases, but the IBM Model M is hardly better with the top and lower parts of t…

My Model M was built in 1992, but still looks and feels brand-new.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#134

Ok, for the keyboard enthusiasts here: does anyone know if there’s such thing as a “magic keyboard” - flat keyboard and flat keys - but as a split keyboard? I’ve been testing split keyboards lately and I think they’ll provide some relief to some neck and shoulder pain I get from hunching when I type, but I don’t really like how gigantic the keyboards all are, and to be honest I prefer the “chiclet” keys over the big…

You're looking for something with choc mechanical switches. I personally use a Lily58 but there's a bunch of other boards you can potentially find with them.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#135
I spend my day on a Macbook Air and a MS Surface, and a Dell. The Dell keyboard is squishy and horrible to type on. I ordered a Logitech mechanical keyboard but it came broken, so I returned it.. and didn't get a chance to try it out.

Anyone have a recommendation for a low-profile, relatively quiet mechanical keyboard that will not feel disruptive to my Mac & Surface keyboard habits? Something akin to those, but mechanical, would be nice.

EDIT: OK, I'll edit my request for a recommendation: best keyboard of any kind if you're spending your day on Macbook and Surface keyboards.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#136
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HHKB is a great keyboard (it's my personal choice of keyboard too, I love the Unix layout), but it's a 60% keyboard not a Ten Keyless, it sounds like the GP has a need for function keys.

Yep, function keys and mostly also the arrow keys. A full keyboard is too large but I need the extra arrow keys. (Ironically, I work in Emacs most of the time but I need the arrow keys in other applications.)

I just noticed that they've taken the arrow keys off the HHKB! It always had an inverted T.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#137
My essentially perfect rubber dome keyboard finally gave out last summer (after more than a decade of service) so I decided to finally jump onto the mechanical keyboard bandwagon. I'd cut my teeth on a Model M and old spongy domes so linear switches where out. I considered getting a model M but I wanted the feel of building something myself (and let's be honest, the endless customization is fun!) I ended up putting heavy Zealios on a barebones 10kl board and couldn't be happier.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#138
post #135

I spend my day on a Macbook Air and a MS Surface, and a Dell. The Dell keyboard is squishy and horrible to type on. I ordered a Logitech mechanical keyboard but it came broken, so I returned it.. and didn't get a chance to try it out. Anyone have a recommendation for a low-profile, relatively quiet mechanical keyboard that will not feel disruptive to my Mac & Surface keyboard habits? Something akin to those, but mech…

Try another Logitech. Their low-profile mechanical keyboards are very popular with my keyboard snob friends. :)

I haven't tried them yet myself, since I prefer a narrower layout. I really love my Drop ALT but it's not low profile.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of the hype around mechanical keyboards in general is overblown. I had a period of transitioning to mechanical keyboards. I couldn't get used to the high-rise keys and long travel times which made my wrists hurt and made typing a chore. I kept convincing myself that I just had the wrong type of switch, so I changed keyboards every few months seeking that perfect feeling. The closest I got was low-profil…

So I'm not alone. I really can't understand the appeal of a mechanical keyboard. - They are loud - They are expensive - The keys are massive and ugly - Massive travel time (So slow to type on) Sure they are a bit more customizable, but is that really worth all the drawbacks? Especially the worse typing, which is the main point of a keyboard. If you are a mechanical keyboard fanatic, and my comment angered you, please…

I use a $20 "Made in China" Dell KB212-B. The ONLY issue I have is that I can't program some shortcut to use the arrow keys via WASD or something, since reaching for the arrow keys in code slows down my typing a LOT, especially since I use it frequently for things like ctrl + -->, ctrl + shift + -->, etc. I also use Home and End frequently to go to end of the line and alt + ^ to move lines up and down.

Other than that though, I have tried co-workers $200 keyboards and see zero difference. I guess the short keyboards are kind of cool to have your hands truly centered when using a mouse.

Re: New Model M Is an American-Made Keyboard That Puts a Spring Back in Your Typing

#140
In India we have the TVS Gold range of mechanical keyboards that are complete rip-offs of the Model M but are also very cheap: https://www.tvs-e.in/keyboards-and-mice/

They are extremely popular, almost standard-issue in most of India's government offices.

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